Livingstone claims show is ‘hatchet job’

London Mayor Ken Livingstone has claimed he was the victim of a “hatchet job” by Channel 4.

A Dispatches documentary is expected to be critical of Livingstone’s eight-year tenure in office. But in a statement ahead of the programme – made by New Statesman political editor Martin Bright – a spokesman for the Livingstone campaign denounced its claims as “ludicrous” and accused it of “smearing” the Mayor.

The statement claimed Dispatches had been “totally discredited” after documentaries on Aids and climate change.

“It has been pointed out to Channel 4 in the clearest possible terms that the allegations against Ken Livingstone, in the hatchet job on him by journalist Martin Bright for Dispatches, are equally ludicrous,” it said.

In an article for timesonline, written before the programme, Singh said many of the mayor’s senior advisers were members of a Trotskyite faction called Socialist Action which plotted to turn London into a “socialist city state”.

“Socialist Action decided to operate as an ‘entryist’ organisation,” he said. “Ken Livingstone wanted political power. Socialist Action organised his campaigns successfully and dealt with spin. Livingstone was never a member of SA but he was close to the group – almost like the leader.”

The campaign spokesman dismissed Singh as an “embittered ex-employee”. He said Singh was dismissed after failing to respond to a written request for assistance from the Metropolitan Police anti-terrorist squad in February 2005, and then failed to report the request to the GLA. He said Singh also failed to contact City Hall following the terrorist bombings on July 7 2005.